Dark Soldier
The Dark Soldier is a dark entity that was created following the unison and resurrection of Roach and Xarcoh through the Dark Realm. He is the true primary antagonist of the "Age of the Soulless" saga. History While in Limbo, the Prophets of the Soulless discovered an ancient doomsday prophecy, one that prophesized the resurrection of a being capable of unleashing the Dark Realm's power onto the universe, consuming all of the universes in eternal darkness. To accomplish this, the Prophets set out to find a being who would serve as a conduit to the Dark Realm's dark powers by having the being becoming resurrected through the Dark Realm. To this end, the launched a special weapon known as the Harbinger into reality, hoping it would one day fall into the hands of an inexperienced user that would ultimately become their pawn. Years later, the Harbinger would be discovered by Roach and his allies. Roach, having immediately fallen under the blade's dark powers and having received a telepathic nudge from the Prophets, decided that the best way to escape from Unit 14 was to remove their souls with the Harbinger. Despite the others' unwariness of his plan, Roach immediately used the Harbinger to remove their souls, including his own. This caused their physical bodies to fade away into Limbo, with their souls becoming lost within the Harbinger. Arriving at Limbo, the Prophets corrupted the Soulless with their darkness, ultimately turning them into experimental super soldiers for their plan. As part of their plan, Echthroi and the Prophets let their new Soulless out onto Earth after years of letting them train, hoping to learn of their strengths and abilities to determine which one would eventually serve as the key to unlocking the Dark Realm's powers. After witnessing the destruction of J.X.T., Yaxnor, and Xirsch, the Prophets concluded that Xarcoh would be their best candidate. Influencing him to return to Limbo with the Harbinger, Xarcoh began the process of forming a rift to Limbo, but was stopped by his human counterpart's friends, who sought to restore the Soulless as humans. A fierce battle ensued, and Xarcoh was ultimately slain by the four, which seemingly stopped the Prophets' plans. In a turn of events however, the Prophets discovered that Xarcoh was able to develop his own non-corrupted soul, which escaped to another timeline. Knowing that Xarcoh was their best chance in enacting their scheme, the Prophets departed Limbo through Xarcoh's collapsing rift, silently trailing him throughout his journeys across time. However, once Xarcoh was finally destroyed once and for all, they soon learned that since his human counterpart Roach was still able to wield the Harbinger, they had to wait until Roach was dead until their plan could come to fruition. Universal Convergence During the conflict with The Visitor, Roach was fatally stabbed by The Visitor with the Ragnarök. As he began to die, he sensed the Prophets and their dark plans, warning the heroes of the upcoming evil before succumbing to his wounds. Not long after the remaining heroes escaped the realm of Uriqar, Echthroi and the Prophets arrived at the realm, where they proceeded to use the Soul Jar to preserve Roach's soul. Revealing to have done the same to Xarcoh's, the Prophets then began their plan to resurrect the two as one entity, one that would ultimately allow them to fulfill the doomsday prophecy. Age of the Soulless Following the creation of the Cube of Darkness, the Prophets began to put their plan into motion. Forgotten Past The Prophets first set out to procure the Book of Rituals from the Library of Divination, which contained two important spells; one that would summon the Cube of Darkness from the Dark Realm, and one that containing a resurrection spell needed to resurrect the Dark Soldier. The Prophets are successful in this, but they lose the Cube of Darkness to SEAL Team Five, who escapes thanks to The Librarian. Frozen Pride Despite this, Echthroi personally tracks the team down, locating them and the Cube of Darkness on an arctic research vessel heading back to the United States. Boarding the ship, Echthroi is able to secure the Cube of Darkness, using its power to foresee what he needs to do to resurrect the Dark Soldier. Prior to fleeing with the now subdued Alex "Rook" Miller after fighting with SEAL Team Five, Echthroi reveals the Prophets' plan to resurrect the Dark Soldier to the heroes, inviting them to try and stop them. Gateway With everything ready, the Prophets travel to their base in Tunisia, where they use the Book of Rituals and Rook's cursed blood to open a gateway to the Temple of Resurrection in Limbo, the resurrection site of the Dark Soldier. During Rook's sacrifice to open another gateway for SEAL Team Five, he pleads for them to prevent the Dark Soldier's resurrection no matter what. Darkness Rises At the Temple of Resurrection, Echthroi and the Prophets begin the ritual to resurrect the Dark Soldier. With the Cube of Darkness on a central altar in the middle of the chamber, the cube begins to charge up with dark energy the more Echthroi reads the spell. By the time SEAL Team Five is able to enter the basement of the Temple of Resurrection, the cube finishes charging up, sending a beam of darkness into the sky and creating a portal to the Dark Realm. Echthroi soon signals one of his men, who then proceeds to bring out the Soul Jar and hands it to Echthroi. Echthroi soon opens the top of the jar and proceeds to release the imprisoned souls of Roach and Xarcoh. Laughing in victory, Echthroi explains to the souls that it was time to resurrect the two as the Dark Soldier, sending their souls into the Dark Realm. At that moment, a purple lighting bolt then strikes the Cube of Darkness, causing it to rapidly pulsate. Ignoring the bolt as simply part of the ritual, Echthroi begins to recite the spell to resurrect the Dark Soldier. Suddenly, SEAL Team Five enters the chamber, ordering the Prophets to stop. Shocked at their untimely arrival, Echthroi orders his men to destroy them as he continues with the spell. As the team fights off against the Prophets, Echthroi continues to recite the spell, causing everyone great pain except Axel Miller, whom was unaffected due to him already being a Soulless of Rook. Axel then realizes that the spell would turn anyone in the proximity of the spell into Soulless. As everyone but Axel and Echthroi collapsed to the ground, Axel then engages Echthroi in hand-to-hand combat. As the echoing laugh of the Dark Soldier could be heard emerging from the portal, Axel is able to overpower Echthroi, throwing him into the central altar, breaking it and causing the Cube of Darkness to fall onto the ground, causing the Dark Soldier to scream out in pain from within the portal. Horrified over this, Echthroi explains that the Dark Soldier was nearly finished crossing the Ethereal Divide, saying that if he wants to ensure the Dark Soldier arrives, a sacrifice must be made. Punching Axel aside, Echthroi calls out to the Dark Soldier, saying he was willing to sacrifice himself to allow the Dark Soldier to finish crossing the divide. As Axel gets up from the ground, he sees Echthroi slowly walking over to where the central altar was. Suddenly, Echthroi is engulfed in a beam of darkness, causing him to scream out in pain. Horrified, Axel could only watch as Echthroi melted away into a dark essence, which soon ascended the beam and into the portal. The beam then soon vanished, with the sounds of thunder being heard as it echoed across the realm. As everyone else, now turned into Soulless, got up from the ground, a bright dark purple ball of energy shot out from the portal, landing in the center of the chamber. As the portal to the Dark Realm closed, the ball manifested itself into the Dark Soldier, who soon began to laugh out in victory. The Dark Soldier After finishing his laugh, the Dark Soldier picks up the Cube of Darkness and walks over to the temple's balcony, where he comments to everyone that the darkness in Limbo was weak and pitiful, stating that with his powers he was able to acquire from the Dark Realm, he would be able to show all universes what it feels to be part of eternal darkness forever. As the Prophets rejoice over his monologue and welcome the arrival of their new master, Axel quietly regroups with the other members of SEAL Team Five, who were turned into their Soulless counterparts, although they retained their selfhood and weren't corrupted like they originally were. Axel suggests they flee until they devise a new plan, but as they attempted to leave the room, the Dark Soldier telekinetically slammed the door shut on them. The Dark Soldier soon comments on SEAL Team Five's transformation into Soulless, saying that it was good to see "his old allies" in their true forms. The team asks what he planned on doing with them, questioning if he would kill them. The Dark Soldier replies that he would never truly hurt his friends, saying that he would merely test them to see their true worthiness to him. Using his powers, the Dark Soldier engulfs the area in darkness. As the darkness fades away, the team then finds themselves standing in a large foyer within a chamber. The Dark Soldier appears before them, saying that they are within the Chamber of Darkness on the Dark Island in Alaska, saying that the island has a special effect on those who control darkness, allowing them to amplify their powers to a cataclysmic scale. Axel remarks that they wouldn't allow him to unleash his power, saying that they will pass his trial and defeat him once and for all. The Dark Soldier then laughs, saying that's exactly what he wanted to hear. Teleporting away, the echoing screams of zombies then fill the chamber as the sound of the thunder could be heard. Knowing that this was the endgame, the team then begins to fight off the undead, fighting around the chamber until they reach the throne room, with half of the room being sealed off by a dark forcefield. The Dark Soldier soon appears on the other side of the forcefield, saying that their first challenge was to find a way to disable to forcefield before teleporting away. The team then continues fighting until they discover the Cube of Darkness within a secret compartment within the outside hedge maze. Bringing the Cube of Darkness to the throne room, the four utilize it to destroy the forcefield. As they approach the throne, the remaining Prophets soon drop down from the ceiling, saying that if they wished to prove themselves to the Dark Soldier, they must fight each and every one of the Prophets, who then proceed to strip away their guns. Knowing what they were referring to, the team then summons their Soulless weapons and engage the Prophets in a brutal fight to the death. Despite the Prophets' advantage in terms of numbers, they proved to be too weak against the combined efforts of the team, who were able to dispatch them all with their special weapons. As the Prophets laid in defeat on the ground, they remarked that they were ready for what was soon to happen. As they all faded away into nothingness, the throne moved aside, revealing a secret passageway. Knowing that the Dark Soldier was waiting for them, the team entered the passageway as the throne slid back into place. The team then finds themselves at the base of a large spire outside of the chamber as it begins to rain. Noticing the large staircase wrapping around the outside of the tower and the hordes of zombies along the stairs, the team realizes that this was the final challenge. Readying their weapons, the team fights their way up the stairs, fighting through wave after wave of zombies on the stairs. Eventually, the team reaches the top of the spire, where they see the Dark Soldier summoning a ball of darkness in the sky directly above the spire. As the stairs along the tower retract into it, the Dark Soldier commends the four for their efforts, saying that he knew they would pass. As the Dark Soldier turns to face the team, he questions if they are ready to join his side as he engulfs the universes in eternal darkness. The team refuses his offer, saying that all they want is to stop his madness and save their friend. The Dark Soldier then begins to laugh before taking off his facemask, revealing his face to be Roach's, but his skin was a blueish-pale color while his pupils were dark purple, with small cracks of darkness forming under and above his eyes. The Dark Soldier then coldly replies that there was nothing left to save of their friend before turning back to the forming ball of darkness above him. Snapping his fingers, the ball explodes, releasing dark clouds, which forms a dark hurricane above the spire, which soon begins to spread around the world and universes. The Dark Soldier soon laughs in victory, saying that there was nothing they could do to stop him. Unfazed by this, Axel says that they can try before engaging the Dark Soldier in a final battle for everything. As the battle raged on, the Dark Soldier continuously used his powers to block the team's attacks, saying that their weapons weren't powerful enough to stop the darkness, explaining that they would soon sleep in eternal darkness. As the Dark Soldier laughs yet again, this gives the team an idea as they pull out the Cube of Darkness, which suddenly shocks the Dark Soldier. Before he could react, the team begin to use the cube to shoot out beams of darkness, which begin to harm the Dark Soldier. Frustrated that his own darkness was being used against him, the Dark Soldier begins to charge towards the team, forcing them to launch one last powerful attack with the cube. Sending out a massive beam, it soon pierces through the Dark Soldier's chest, causing him to stop in his tracks and collapse to the ground while severely weakening the team. As the team looks back towards the Dark Soldier, they are shocked to see him getting back up and begin to slowly walk towards the team. To their surprise, the Dark Soldier begins to plea with them, saying that if they destroy him, then all of his influence would be erased, which by extent would also erase them from existence as well. As the team nods to each other, Axel replies that they were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the universes before shoving the Cube of Darkness into his open chest wound. Using the last of their strength, the team use the Cube of Darkness to send devastating amounts of energy throughout the Dark Soldier's body. As the Dark Soldier lets out one last scream, Xirsch tells the others that it was an honor to serve with them for all these years. As a bright light begins to form inside his chest wound, the Dark Soldier solemnly replies to Xirsch's comment, saying that he was sorry for what he has done. Soon, the entire area is engulfed in a blinding light, which soon explodes, sending a bright shockwave across the universe, purging it of the Dark Soldier's darkness. Balance and Order The Dark Soldier is mentioned along with the Prophets by the CIA Agent that informs Amici of SEAL Team Five's demise. The Sentinel Trials Prologue The Dark Soldier is mentioned when Mackenzie "Mac" Davis explains what happened to SEAL Team Five to Novus. The Ultimate Trial As Vindicta enters the third trial room as part of the ultimate Sentinel Trial, they arrive atop a dark tower below a massive dark hurricane. Mac explains that he doesn't recognize any of this, saying that if the trials are in chronological order, then this must've occurred before the Day of Medusa event. At that moment, the silhouette of the Cube of Darkness formed. Unlike the other two fights, darkness surrounds the silhouette, forming a masked man in front of them. Mac realizes that it was the Dark Soldier, the same entity that SEAL Team Five defeated right before the Day of Medusa event occurred. The Dark Soldier soon charges towards the four, engaging them in a brutal fight. In the struggle, the Dark Soldier summoned the Harbinger. Shocked by this, Mac is able to lunge towards the Dark Soldier and is able to rip off his face mask, revealing Roach's face. Horrified, Mac realizes that the Dark Soldier was in actuality Roach himself. Mac begins to call out Roach's name, but the Dark Soldier denies that that is his name before separating Mac from the others. Mac questions the Dark Soldier, asking who he saw himself as. The Dark Soldier replies that he was an envoy for the darkness of the Dark Realm, saying that it is his mission to consume the universes in eternal darkness. Mac responds otherwise, saying that he was a protector of the universes, saying he would always put his life on the line in order to protect the ones he loved. Enraged, the Dark Soldier tackles down Mac, saying that it is his destiny to bring the end times. Punching Mac repeatedly, Mac says that he was sorry before sheading a tear, seemingly accepting defeat. Suddenly, the Dark Soldier began to struggle and he clenched his head and began to cry as well. Mac gets up and continues, saying that he never should've left his friends for retirement, saying that he could've prevented all of this. The Dark Soldier then collapses on the ground as he lets out a scream. Looking back towards Mac, he begins to cry some more, asking if it was truly him. Mac says that it was, saying that he was sorry for letting him fall into the darkness. The Dark Soldier gets up, saying that it wasn't his fault, saying that he had no control over the future, telling his friend that no matter what happened, he always knew that Mac would never truly retire, saying that they have gone through all of this trouble to undo something, trouble that has cost them more than anything they have ever done. Mac smiles before hugging his friend, telling the Dark Soldier that it was an honor to have him as a friend. The Dark Soldier responds by saying that his name was Roach before saying that they have passed the third trial room. The Dark Soldier then peacefully fades away as a portal formed where he stood. After Vindicta are able to complete the ultimate trial, they are rewarded with Prima Materia, which they use to undo Master Ronin's actions and resurrect their friends. While they celebrate their victory, Mac questions Roach if he remembered their emotional fight while he was part of the Dark Soldier, to which he responds that he does. Appearance The Dark Soldier takes on the form of an armored soldier, wearing grey armor that covers his chest. He wears black clothing that covers his entire body and black shoulder pads, as well as a hooded facemask with blue glowing eyes. When the mask and hood are taken off, the Dark Soldier's face is shown, which is identical to Roach's, although his skin is blueish-pale in color and his pupils are dark purple, with small cracks of darkness forming under and above his eyes. Weapons and Abilities As an envoy of the darkness within the Dark Realm, the Dark Soldier is incredibly powerful, harnessing pure dark energy and condensing them into lasers. He possesses a "desperation move" that causes the entire area to be engulfed in darkness with an inner layer of purple orbs. These orbs will fire as purple lasers, which randomly shoot towards the player. He is also extremely strong, as it took the efforts of all of SEAL Team Five to barely weaken the Dark Soldier before using the Cube of Darkness to do most of the damage and finish him off. The Dark Soldier wields two weapons; the first weapon he uses is his Dark Axe, a weapon he can summon through the use of his powers. This axe can channel most of the Dark Soldier's powers through it, and is capable of achieving near lethal amounts of damage. The Dark Soldier is also shown to have the power to wield the Harbinger, although he only does this during The Ultimate Trial. Gallery Dark Soldier Weapon Point TDS.png|The Dark Soldier pointing his axe atop the spire in The Dark Soldier. Category:Universal Convergence Category:Age of the Soulless Category:Balance and Order Category:The Sentinel Trials Category:Boss Rush